Students examine how scientists use fossil evidence to trace evolution of various species and methods used to date fossils.

What can layers of rock teach us about the climate? Young scientists solve a mystery about who stole a cookie by applying the law of superposition. Then, they apply the same concept to solve a more difficult mystery, trying to determine...

The scientific issue of carbon-14 dating and exponential decay gets a statistics-based treatment in this problem. The class starts with a basic investigation of carbon content, but then branches out to questions of accuracy and...

Students practice dating fossils. They learn the concept of "deep time"--that earth was formed billions of years ago. They experience excellent hand-outs and virtual age tutorial links.

Students explore how to read fossil range charts. They develop an knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the fossil record. Students become familiar with the concepts index fossil and fossil range. Students use bar graphs to...

Students recall prior knowledge of the process of fossilization. In this fossils lesson, students first create and at a later date, recover fossils. Students understand the painstaking process of recovering a fossil. Students recover and...

Learners examine fossils to understand how they are formed and how they give information about geological history. In this fossil lesson, students research and write about fossils and make models of different fossil types.The PDF...

High schoolers explore how scientists use fossils to explore how various species have evolved over time.  In this fossil instructional activity students study how to date fossils. 

How can radioactive decay help date old objects? Learners explore half-life and radioactive decay by conducting an experiment using pennies to represent atoms. Young scientists graph data from the experiment to identify radioactive decay...

Learners create an evolutionary tree based on fossil morphology and their ages. In this fossil record lesson plan, students are given 23 pictures of fossil. They study their morphology and arrange the fossils by age and structures on a...

Students read and discuss an article about carbon dating, then participate in a hands-on lab to discover how carbon dating works. Students also write a letter to a friend explaining the process, and how archeologists use the process to...

Students use fossil range charts to explain relative dating. They graph for ammonites, marine organisms that went extinct at the same time as dinosaurs.

Students investigate the development of the geologic time scale. Also, to introduce them to the major time periods in earth's history, as well as to the role fossils play in helping us understand this history.

High schoolers explore the development of the geologic time scale. They examine the major time periods in earth's history. Students discuss the role fossils play in helping us understand history.

What an impression fossils make! In this activity, aspiring paleontologists view fossils and construct a timeline to further understand how the lack of natural adaptation caused historical organisms to become extinct. While they...

Learners examine the concept of radioactive dating. In this radioactive dating lesson, students investigate how to determine the ages of fossils and rocks as they learn about half-life radioactive decay.

Students read about and complete question activities for the topic of relative dating. In this relative dating lesson, students read information for the topic and then complete two activities to further their understanding of geologic...

Students explore radioactive dating using a radiometric Dating website. In this chemistry lesson plan, students will work in small groups to collect data that shows how fossils are dated. As a follow-up, students will research a...

Students play the dating game by going to the website given by the teacher. They also are presented with the powerpoint, done the m&m simulation, and determine the age of the mummified seal and man.

Fifth graders create a fossil using an impression made with a shell pressed into clay and filled with plaster of Paris and a mold made out of dough and impressed with a shell. They also will receive a paragraph which contains four...

Student examine the close relationship between fossil energy and our daily lives. To demonstrate to the student the close relationship between fossil energy and our daily lives.

Fourth graders use their knowledge about fossils to arrange fossil pictures in sequence from oldest to youngest. They explain how fossils can be used to make inferences about past life, climate, geology, and environments and discover...

Throughout this earth science exam, high school geologists complete a series of multiple-choice and short-answer questions about the solar system, atmosphere, and Earth system. This is an amazing test, as are all of the exams developed...

Students investigate how long dinosaurs lived on Earth and how that compare to how long man has been on Earth. They discover how scientists excavate fossils.